The prototype battle between the No.10 and the No.01 raged in Long Beach throughout the week – from qualifying to the final lap of the race.

For Wayne Taylor Racing and brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor, they were able to clinch their first victory of the season at Long Beach – one day after Ricky scored the team’s first 2015 pole.

Scott Pruett kept Ricky Taylor honest in the qualifying battle yesterday and teammate Joey Hand made sure Jordan Taylor couldn’t cruise home in the race today.

“Obviously being on pole is nice. You get to control the start a little bit. Scott (Pruett) did a really good job at the start and I had to fight for it at Turn one,” Ricky Taylor said.

“Fortunately I knew our car was good on the brakes and good on cold tires as well. I had some confidence going into the first turn. After that I settled in and did my best to save the car to get it over to Jordan in one piece.

At the beginning it seemed like a reasonable task but as it went on, the 01 was putting more pressure on and I was having to push harder and harder as the tires wore.

“It felt like our car was really good. It’s really special to come away with this result.”

The No.10 Taylor car was the first to pit and Hand enjoyed a brief stint at the front of the field.

A charging Jordan Taylor made the move back past Hand in turn 1 shortly after the pit stops. Despite Hand closing at one stage right back onto the tail of the Corvette DP machine, he couldn’t get back through to retake the lead.

“When I got in the car, I knew (the No. 01) had stayed out because I didn’t see them in the pit lane, so I knew they would have at least one lap on hot tires and we’d have a lap on cold tires and they could maybe jump us,” Jordan Taylor said.

“I pushed hard on the two out-laps and actually tagged the wall on one of them. I actually saw on the big screen TV on the front stretch that (Joey Hand) was just leaving the pit exit.

“I was behind a Porsche, and thankfully he braked early into the first turn. If I hadn’t gotten by him, I wouldn’t have been close enough. I knew having gone around on cold tires how tough it was, but I was shocked at how quick he was.

“I got a good run out of the hairpin, and I knew we were strong under braking. I knew we’d probably have one shot at it, so I went for it. It was a pretty late move but fortunately it stuck.

“It was tough being the leader. I could see how close he was every lap. It was a tenth here and a tenth there. Thankfully with a couple laps to go we had a little bit of separation with some GT cars which gave me a pretty good gap to the finish.”

The final spot on the podium was taken by the Visit Florida.com Corvette combo of Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante.